Neft was born in New York City, received a BA, MBA, and PhD (Statistics) from Columbia University, and worked as chief statistician for the polling company Louis Harris & Associates from 1963 to 1965.
[1] In 1965, he was the treasurer and director of research for a company formed by S. Paul Funkhouser, Jr. called Information Concepts, Inc. (ICI) and headed the first effort to compile a computerized database of baseball statistics.
The task took more than three years, as Neft and a team of researchers travelled across the country to fill the gaping holes in baseball's statistical and biographical records.
Because the National Football League hadn't kept official statistics in its first thirteen seasons, knowledge of the period was extremely limited.
Neft led a team of researchers that meticulously reconstructed the statistical record using box scores, play-by-play accounts, and game stories from local newspapers.